1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicles, such as pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, having a first compartment configured primarily for carrying passengers and a second compartment, rearwardly adjacent the first compartment, configured for carrying cargo, and more particularly to providing optionally expandable passenger seating in the second compartment of such vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
In vehicles such as pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles that typically have a first compartment configured primarily for carrying a driver and passengers, and a second compartment rearwardly adjacent the first compartment configured for carrying cargo, it is often desirable to provide more that just a single row of seats, so that additional passengers may be carried.
One common approach to providing this seating is illustrated by extended cab pickup trucks, where the first compartment, or cab, is permanently extended into the second compartment, or cargo bed, of the truck, with the length of the cargo bed being shortened as a result. Generally the cargo bed is in an extended cab vehicle is shortened, with the vehicle wheelbase remaining essentially unchanged, because retaining a full length cargo bed with an extended cab, would result in a vehicle that would be undesirably long. In this approach, passenger carrying capacity is often given priority over cargo carrying capacity.
Where the need for carrying cargo is small, this approach works well. Where there is an occasional need to carry more cargo, or long cargo, such as lumber for example, the permanent loss of cargo bed length in an extended cab vehicle is undesirable. As a result, various approaches have been developed for providing an opening into the passenger compartment from the cargo bed, for extending the length of the cargo bed, when the vehicle operator desires to transport longer cargo. The cargo is then allowed to extend forward into the first compartment, through the area that would be occupied by a second row of passenger seats in an extended cab vehicle. The following United States patents disclose such an approach: U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,727, to Store, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,916 B1, to Hunt; U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,104 B1, to Fisher, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,863 B1.
For some vehicles, however, the extended cab approach is undesirable. In a pickup truck that is used primarily for carrying cargo, and only occasionally for carrying more passengers than can be accommodated in a front row of seats, for example, giving priority to passenger seating over cargo carrying capacity is undesirable. In sport utility vehicles that are designed to operate off-road, where having a short wheelbase is highly desirable, and the need to carry cargo is typically small, extending the cab to provide additional optionally expandable seating capacity can result in undesirably compromising the design and performance of the vehicle in performing its desired function.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to provide optionally expandable passenger seating in the second compartment rearwardly adjacent the first compartment in such a vehicle body.